


Before Andromeda

by Orime



Series: Laura Ryder [1]
Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Casual Sex, Heavy Drinking, Multi, Team as Family, lots of swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:26:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24961537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Orime/pseuds/Orime
Summary: Laura Ryder enjoys her life working on archaeological dig sites on remote planets with a team she's come to love as family. But when her father's dishonourable discharge from the Alliance begins to negatively affect her reputation too, it looks like things are going to have to change. Chapter titles marked with an asterisk* have explicit sexual content, which can be avoided or honed in on as desired.
Relationships: Female Ryder/Original Characters
Series: Laura Ryder [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1806607
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	1. The Dig Site

The team were systematically cataloguing the current state of the dig site when a metallic thud brought their attention to the small canister that had landed between them. In the time it had taken for Laura to furrow her brows and open her mouth, Anne had kicked the thing off to the side before the gas could begin properly billowing out of it. Looking around they counted five batarians converging on them. Where the fuck had they come from?

Ben yelped and jumped back inside the lab building he had just stepped out of, closing the door behind him. Leigh pulled out her pistol, aiming it towards the two batarians closest to her, and Anne grabbed her assault rifle from her back, growling. Laura's first instinct, which she indulged, was to crouch down against a crate and hide.

"Laura, you're a fucking biotic, act like one!" Anne roared over a spray of bullets.

Laura steeled her jaw, peeked over the top of the crate and picked her target; one of the two bastards closing in on Leigh. Allowing the energy to swell within her, she scooped upward with her hand and smiled as her target was lifted into the air. No, she wasn't helpless here. Clenching her fist and throwing it to the side, her victim flew across the site and cracked its head against the wall of the lab, taking it out of the fight.

In that time, Leigh was able to dispatch the other guy making moves on her and Anne had mowed the remaining three down. Anne then spat at the nearest body and began moving them one by one into a pile at the corner of the dig site, dragging them unceremoniously by the ankles. "Ben, it's safe to come out now, you fucking coward!" she yelled towards the lab building.

After a moment the door beeped open and Ben emerged, pale and shivering. "It sounded like you had everything under control," he mumbled.

Anne snorted at him. "Regardless, we all did good. The batarians will think twice before messing with us in the future. Leigh, you're a pretty decent shot, and Laura that biotic throw was fucking magnificent! I knew we were letting you stick around for a reason. And Ben..."

He flinched.

"If it had all gone to shit, having someone safely bunkered down inside to send off a distress signal is smart thinking." She clapped his shoulder roughly. "Speaking of, why don't you head back inside and let them know we'll need someone to come and pick up the bodies."

He nodded and hurried off to complete his task. The rest of them got back to work methodically picking apart the area, searching for any traces of Prothean existence. The batarians had stomped all over one corner of the site, which would prevent them from logging everything as precisely as they had wanted, but all things considered, little damage had been done. The team were in high spirits for the rest of the day, knowing that nothing was going to come between them and motherfucking scientific discovery.


	2. Downtime

"Party time, bitcheeeees!" Laura sang, crashing through the door with a couple of bottles of alcohol in each hand.

Leigh put her finger to her lips, but struggled to keep a straight face as she returned her attention to the console in front of her. "Mummy has to go and work now, okay? But I'll call you back again soon. Be good for Daddy!" She waved and blew a few kisses before shutting down the video call. "Jesus Christ Laura, if Ethan starts calling people 'bitches', I will throttle you."

"Long as I can finish my booze first," Laura winked, setting her loot down on the table.

Anne came stomping into the room with about as much grace as Laura had. "Get your party hats on people!" she ordered as she heaved the crate they had just received from their supply runner into the room.

"Why couldn't you have opened with that? That was much more kid friendly," Leigh joked, earning a frown from Anne.

"You saying I'm kid friendly?" she growled.

"I can just see you hosting your own kids programme!" Laura giggled, swinging against Anne's unmoving arm. "It would be called Some Dumbass Baby's First Fucking Adventure!"

Leigh burst out into hysterical laughter. Ben smiled shyly, and Anne was trying to stay stoic for the comedy but the corner of her mouth was twitching.

"Oh dear lord!" Leigh gasped, "That's perfect!"

"It'd probably be better than the drivel they actually show to kids," Anne grumbled.

Laura began making a poor approximation of Anne's voice. "Right kids, we're going on a fucking adventure. None of this fairy tale shit. You're going to learn some real fucking life skills. Today's special guest is some arsewipe called Billy or something." She beckoned Ben over.

Ben shuffled over and gave the room a half-hearted wave. Leigh was crying with laughter by this point, and Anne was losing the battle against her own smile.

"Alright, alright, I can present my own fucking show," she said, shoving Laura out of the way. "Right, Ben..." she started.

"It's Billy!" Leigh corrected, her last attempted syllable lost to another fit of giggles.

"Right, Arsewipe," Anne amended, "we going on this fucking adventure or what?"

Ben nodded.

"Right, so we'll take a shuttle okay? What should we do first?" Anne asked in a voice that could almost be construed as friendly.

"Um... fly somewhere cool?" he suggested.

Anne cuffed him round the back of the head. "No, you fucking idiot!" she screamed. "The first thing you do is you put your goddamn harness on! Do you want to crack your head open on the fucking ceiling if somebody else is driving like a fucking twat and I have to swerve to avoid them?"

Ben shook his head, smiling.

"Get the hell off my show Billy, you're dead to me."

Leigh was smacking a fist into her thigh, struggling to breathe through her laughter. "Oh my God Anne, the parents would be after you with torches and pitchforks."

"Right, I've done your shitty TV job," Anne said. "Let's get fucking plastered."

"Sir, yes sir!" the room bellowed in response, and everyone dove to investigate the contents of the crate Anne had brought in. Laura pulled her pre-pillaged loot towards herself, a big dumb smile on her face. She loved these guys.


	3. Never Have I Ever

Everyone was at least a few bottles in by the time Anne and Leigh had begun amusing the group with increasingly silly arm wrestling contests. Each bout had a new, creative stipulation dictated by Laura, who had nominated herself as the referee. In the current round, the contestants each had a shoe balanced on their heads. If the shoe fell off, or if their hand was successfully pinned in the traditional manner, they lost the match.

The contestants were currently using one arm to wrestle and the other to try and swat the shoe off of their opponent's head. Leigh eventually won the match by tickling Anne into submission. Anne caught her shoe just before it hit the ground and properly smacked a giggling Leigh on the shoulder with it.

"Alright!" Laura intervened, springing between the two of them. "Let's play something a little less violent!"

"No kissing games though," Leigh pulled a face at Anne, earning another smack dodged around Laura's arm.

"Right, that's it! I'm confiscating your shoe!" Laura grabbed for it, won the resulting tug of war and chucked it into a corner.

"If I may make a request for our next activity..." Leigh announced, standing up to get everyone a fresh bottle and carefully handing them out. She sat back down and cleared her throat. "Never have I ever..." she began ominously. Anne's eyes gleamed appreciatively. Laura groaned. "...eaten something after it fell on the floor."

Anne and Laura both took a swig from their bottles.

"Me next," Anne asserted. "Never have I ever slept with two people in one night."

Everyone looked at each other across the table, carefully scrutinising for signs of weakness. Eventually Laura sighed and took a drink.

"Fucking knew it," Anne grinned.

"Never have I ever punched a friend in the face," Laura retorted.

Anne scowled and took a drink. "You volunteering to be my next victim?"

They all turned to Ben. "Ummm, never have I ever been sick on someone."

Leigh and Laura both took a drink.

"You got anything left in there?" Leigh teased, pointing at Laura's bottle.

"Just because I've lived a full and glorious life," Laura retorted. "Don't worry, you boring bastards can all live vicariously through me."

Leigh's smile widened. "Never have I ever faked an orgasm."

Laura smiled back and made a show of placing her bottle on the table and slowly lifting her hands away from it as though she'd just done a cool trick.

"No fair! you always lose the sex ones!" Leigh pouted.

"What can I say? I'm just honest to a fault," Laura smiled sweetly back at her.

"Laura's easy game," Anne snorted. "I'm going for the big win." Her steely gaze fell upon Ben. She took a deep breath. "Never have I ever lied to my parents."

Leigh and Laura both took a drink. Ben remained motionless.

"Really?" Laura asked. "You sure you understand the rules here? you're supposed to take a drink if you've done the thing."

Ben shrugged, saying nothing and giving nothing away.

It was Laura's turn. "Never have I ever... forgotten to do my homework?"

Leigh and Anne both took a drink. Ben did not.

"Seriously?!"

It was Ben's turn. He began chewing his lip, thinking about what to say. "Never have I ever, um... had sex in a movie theatre."

Everyone turned to Laura. "Hey!" she protested, "If I've paid good money to see a film, I'm watching the damn film!"

Ben cleared his throat, and they all turned back to see him chugging the entirety of his own bottle, his empty hand curled into a 'rock on' sign.

"WHAT?!" the room screamed in unison.

Ben put the empty bottle down beside the pile at his feet and shrugged again.

"Oh no you don't, details! Details!" Leigh cried, lunging for him. But he stood up and danced out of her reach, running out of the building and cackling into the night.

Laura, Leigh and Anne shared a look, and then nodded solemnly. Rising to their feet, they all sprinted out after him. That little motherfucker was gonna talk!


	4. The Ryder Curse

"You're back earlier than I expected!" Leigh said, jumping to her feet in surprise as the rest of the group got back from their walk.

"You know the Alliance sees all our browsing history on that thing," Anne smiled and gestured towards the console Leigh had leapt up from. "I hope you weren't looking up anything naughty."

Leigh bit her lip and a light flush spread across her cheeks.

"You were _not!_ " Anne cackled gleefully. As always she was loud enough to keep everyone's attention held, allowing Laura to edge around the room and snatch a glimpse of... job listings?

"You were looking at other jobs?" she asked, feeling like the floor had just been pulled out from under her.

Leigh jumped about a mile in the air and her eyes began darting from team member to team member. "Look, it's nothing personal, you know it's not. Our pay's been shit for too long. I have to think of Ethan." Her eyes lingered on Anne's, pleading.

But Anne's eyes narrowed, and everyone knew what that meant. "Yeah, that's definitely your primary motivation, isn't it? Providing for the son you never actually see."

"Anne..." Laura cautioned.

"No, I don't buy that at all," Anne continued, unfazed. "If your son's so important, why have you been out here at the arse end of nowhere with us all this time? Did it not occur to you that he might prefer to spend some fucking time with you?"

Leigh crossed the room and slapped her hard across the face. "Maybe that thought _has_ occurred to me!" she shouted. "And maybe I'm fed _up_ of being in the arse end of nowhere with no money or science to actually show for it! And maybe I'm sick to the back teeth of your horrible attitude these days!"

There was a weighty silence as Leigh and Anne stood there glaring at each other and Laura and Ben tried their best to shrink into the background.

"We. are. a. _team,_ " Anne spat, a small pause between each word.

Leigh stalked off, locking herself in the lab. They could hear her muffled crying even so.

"I'm going for a fucking drive before anyone else does anything stupid," Anne growled before storming out herself.

Ben stood motionless, staring at the floor.

"Hey, you okay?" Laura asked softly.

"The team's finished, isn't it?" he mumbled. She saw the glint of moisture in his eyes as he turned away to take refuge in his bunk. He lay silently facing the wall, his back to her.

Laura's jaw clenched. She sat down at the console and glared at the job listings still displayed on the screen. She doubted any of them would be willing to take on a Ryder. She'd been suspecting for a while that her father's dishonourable discharge from the Alliance was somehow the cause of all her team's troubles.

Her team had stuck by her, as she'd never doubted they would, but the network of contacts they'd carefully built up over time had suddenly become very leery of working with her group. It seemed that Scott was having similar problems at his end of the galaxy too. Last they'd spoke, he had mentioned his placements getting more and more remote, with less and less strategic importance. It was frustrating him. And now it was driving a wedge between her team.

Ben was right. If things kept going as they were, the team would soon fall apart and it would be her fault. She couldn't allow that to happen.

She brought up her own account on the terminal and began drafting a message.

\---

After the confrontation, telling everyone that she was now the one going to be jumping ship was hard. But she told them that she needed some time off to finally face her mother's death and deal with some lose threads still trailing from that, and even Anne had found it difficult to argue with that.

"Things have been pretty rough lately, for all of us," Laura had said. "But I have a feeling that it's all about to turn around. Please, promise me you'll all stick it out for a few more months at least. I'll feel better if I know at least one of my families is still going strong and kicking science butt! And maybe I can come back and join you all once I've had some time."

She'd gotten some last emotional hugs from everyone before the shuttle came to pick her up. She'd waved at them all with a bright smile, and they'd waved back, calling out in-jokes and supportive messages. It was only after the shuttle had pulled away that she pulled her knees up to her chest and began bawling into them.


	5. Coping Mechanisms*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *This chapter has some explicit sex in it. If that's not your cup of tea for any reason, please feel no shame in skipping on to the next chapter. Alternatively, you can find me on tumblr as orime-stories if you want to enquire about any squicks before continuing (anonymous or otherwise).*

Returning to her tiny apartment on the Citadel for some shore leave was usually a welcome return to some personal space, but this time the four walls of her single main room seemed to press in around her as she thought of the team she'd left behind and might never see again.

She needed company. And luckily she knew exactly where to go to get some.

A wash and a change of outfit later she found herself at the infamous Purgatory bar, slamming back a few drinks to get things started. Scanning her surroundings, she noticed a guy standing alone at the opposite end of the counter. He too had a few empty glasses lined up beside him, and he too was glancing across the room with intent. Bingo.

\---

She fumbled with the key to her apartment as he sucked along her neck and shoulder from behind, grabbing at her breasts through her clothes. The few drinks she'd had were beginning to wear off and she hoped that his were too.

Once she'd gotten it unlocked, they all but tumbled through the door. Then as soon as it had beeped shut again she pulled off her top and bra and let them tumble to the floor. Her new friend took the hint and brought his kisses down to her chest, pressing her against the wall and sucking at her nipples. His hand found its way up her skirt and began rubbing roughly at her through her underwear, the moisture likely soaking through by now. She felt herself begin to loosen.

"You're gorgeous!" he said between kisses.

"Shhh..." she answered, pushing him back and tugging at his shirt. Once they were both suitably undressed (keeping her skirt on because she felt like it) she pushed him again and he fell against the bed, giggling.

She grabbed a condom from her nightstand and tossed it at him, watching carefully to make sure he was putting it on right. Then she climbed on top of him, rubbing herself against his erection.

"Oh _fuck!_ " he sighed.

 _Yes please_ , she thought, as she lowered herself onto him and began rolling her hips. He strained against her with each push, his hands cupping her arse to pull her closer. It was nice, but it wasn't quite what she needed.

"Can we turn around?" she asked, dismounting. She crawled past him on the bed and stayed crouched there on all fours.

He gleefully knelt behind her, running his hands along her body. She lifted her skirt slightly for him and his erection was able to find its way back to her eager vagina. Backing onto him, she lowered her face against the sheets, arching her back and finding the right angle.

"Don't hold back," she pleaded.

He didn't need telling twice. His hands around her waist for leverage, he began slamming into her. She cried out with each delicious thrust and arched her back further. Yes! This was exactly what she needed. She closed her eyes and buried her face into the sheets, muffling her grateful moans. And then his torso was pressing into her back as his whole body spasmed, signalling that her time was up.

She pulled away from him before his erection could fade, making sure that the contents of the condom stayed there. Then she tossed a box of tissues his way and flopped back onto the bed, yawning sleepily. Yes, that had hit the spot.

"You need me to head out?" the guy asked.

"Up to you. There's room for two if want to stay the night, and maybe a chance for an encore in the morning."

"Wouldn't want to miss out on that," he smiled.

They cuddled awkwardly for a bit, but then Laura rolled over to her side of the bed to get comfy. All in all, a rather successful night.


	6. Scott

The next morning she woke to hear the shower already in use. She smiled, glad the guy was still around to distract her from the heavy thoughts she wasn't yet ready to face. Slowly, she pulled herself out of bed and wandered over to check her computer. She'd sent Scott a message yesterday to let him know that she was officially "between jobs" and that she'd love to catch up with him if he had any time coming up.

She eagerly opened the response waiting for her from last night. "You got lucky with your timing, see you by the shuttles tomorrow afternoon."

It seemed that her brother was going to be able to take over distraction duties for the day. Lucky timing indeed.

Her new friend accompanied her to the shuttles despite assurances that it wasn't necessary. But he claimed to be heading that way anyway and she didn't want to be a dick about it. As they approached the busy area, Laura caught sight of her brother from across the mass of people.

"Scott!" she shouted, waving and smiling.

She began pushing her way through the crowd when a hand closed around her wrist, holding her in place. She stopped and turned to see her friend frowning with concern.

"Who's Scott?" he asked.

She looked down at the hand gripping her, unimpressed. "What are you doing?"

"Sorry, it's just that you never mentioned you were here to see another guy." He maintained his hold on her.

Of all the conclusions he could have drawn he had chosen to go straight for the kill. Not a good sign.

She wrenched away from him. "Get the fuck off me! You've had one night and you're being irrationally jealous already? Look, it's been fun but I'm not into that."

"What?!" he hissed. "It's not unreasonable for me to ask a simple question!"

"No, but it is unreasonable to fucking grab at me when you don't like something, and to assume that we're exclusive after one drunken shag. If you're not aware of these things, I've got no interest in pursuing this further."

He stared at her open mouthed and furious. Perhaps he would have protested more if Scott hadn't reached them by that point, frowning at the tone of conversation.

"I see. I'll leave you two alone then." He stomped off, and Laura was not sad to see him go.

She turned to her brother, putting a hand on her hip and raising an eyebrow. "So, now that you've got me alone, what do you want to do with me?" she teased.

Scott's frown didn't budge. "Knock it off." He sighed and rubbed at his forehead. "I didn't realise you'd been on the prowl already. You sure know how to pick them."

"Well I doubt I'll be seeing him again." They began to head over to their usual cafe.

"He another one of your club friends?" Scott persisted.

"My social circle is somewhat limited at the moment," she joked.

Scott studied her face briefly. "I know what that's like."

It seemed her brother had brought some heavy thoughts of his own along.

They ordered their usual drinks from the counter: a hot chocolate for Laura and a black coffee for Scott, and then they settled down at a table in the corner. This place was one of the quieter, more relaxed cafes, but it had a good view across a swathe of Citadel that made it perfect for people watching.

"So you left your dig team?" Scott opened.

Laura took a swig of her drink before answering, burning her tongue. "Yeah... we were falling apart. Nobody wants to give site leads to a team that has a Ryder on it. I'm hoping that by making a graceful exit now, the others might be able to continue on at least." She gripped the mug, squeezing her hands into its searing warmth.

"You loved that team."

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry."

They both sipped in silence for a while.

"How about you?" Laura asked. "You've mentioned falling foul of the Ryder curse before."

Anger flashed in Scott's eyes. "Yeah, Dad's messed up both of our chances of getting anywhere with the Alliance. Been getting more and more downtime as they struggle to think of a meaningless enough place to post me."

"You doing okay for money?"

"For now. You?"

"Same."

It seemed they would both have to think of alternative careers. It didn't feel particularly fair, as they had both enjoyed and done well enough at the careers they had had, but that's just how things had gone.

Scott was obviously furious at Dad, blaming him alone. But Laura knew that their Dad had suffered more than anyone from what had happened. No, she had more anger for the Alliance higher ups that were taking Dad's mistakes out on Scott and her. If Laura had a kid one day, would a career in the Alliance be locked off to them too? It was completely ridiculous. And it was the hand that they had been dealt.


End file.
